Mackenzie Gartner, center, on March 3, 2011, with her mothers Heather Martin Gartner, left, and Melissa Gartner in their Des Moines home.

Written by

Jeff Eckhoff
The Des Moines Register

DES MOINES, Iowa - Married same-sex couples have the same rights as married heterosexuals to have both parents listed on the birth certificates of their newborn children, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday.

Justices ruled 6-0 to require that the Iowa Department of Public Health begin listing both married parents on a newborn child's birth certificate despite state concerns that biological-based parenting rights would be cast aside if a Des Moines lesbian were allowed to establish paternity of her child.